Improved clothes-pin



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Letters Patent 1V0. 79,502, dated Jame 30, 1868.

IMPROVED CLOTHES-Pitt.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JOHN G. ROTH, of New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Clothes-Pins and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which The figure is a side view of my improved clothes-pin.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

My invcntion has for its object to furnish an improved clothes-pin, simple. in construction, not liable to get out of order, and reliable in operation, holding the clothes securely, and so constructed as to securely hold the most delicate fabrics without its being necessary to put the said fabrics over the clothes-lines. 7 It consists in the construction and combination :of thevarious parts of the clothes-pin, as hereinafter more fully described. 7 i c A A are the main parts or levers of the pin, which are made exactly alike, and in substantially the shape and manner shown in the figure.

The parts A are formed with shoulders a, at or a little above the middle parts of their inner sides, to form a support to the rubber-block spring 13, which is placed between the upper parts of the said 'parts A, just above and resting'upon the shoulders a. The inner sides of the upper end of the parts A are rounded off,so that the upper. ends of said-parts may be pressed together to open the lower ends orjaws of the pin. 7

Just below the shoulders a, upon the inner sides of the parts A, are formed the notches a to receive the clothes-line, The notches 'a are elongated or extended downward, as shown in the figure, terminating in an 'abruptshonldcr, the lower part of the slot thus formed, being narrower or more contracted than the upper ,part that receives the clothes-line.

The lower arts or 'aws a of the arts A are so formed as to rcsta ainst each other, as shown in the fi ureh p J P r a O The parts A are connected to each other by the wire band or ring C, or by any other suitable device, at a point below the rubber-block B, and above the notches a as shown'in the figure, said band or ring 0 holding the parts A and B in their proper relative positions, and forming the pivoting points of thesaid parts-A.

In using the pin for the coarser articles, the article tobe secured upon the line is put over it, and 'the pin applied inthc ordinary manner, clamping the article to the line, butin the case of more delicate articles, the pin alone is put over the line, said line resting inthe upperand larger parts of the slotformed by the notches a. The article to be held is then placed between the jaws a its upper edge or hem entering the lower or narrower parts of'said slot a", so that the shoulders at the upper end'of the jaws a may prevent the said article from working out oi the pin. V I

The India-rubber block or spring is self-retaining between two planes formed on contiguous sides of the levers A, at a convenient distance back of joint or axis of their motion, Thequadrangular form of the piece of rubber serves the important purpose of maintaining the two levers-0n the same plane, or parallel with each other, both when the spring is compressed in action ,or at rest, thereby obviating the tendency to lateral and irregular motion with relation to each other, which impairs the efliciency of the article as a clamp, and causes wear upon the connecting parts of the joint.

The ordinary pressure of the lovers upon the rubber spring, when properly connected, is sufficient, with the friction of rubber against wood, to prevent the spring from being lost-out, and therefore I do not form notches for its reception, which isnnneeessary, and entails additional cost in the manufacture, besides being positively injurious,-in that they weaken the wood in the proportion of the amount removed, making it liable to break at the point where it'is subjected to the greatest strain, where the rubber forms, when the clamp is opened, the fulcrum-bearing of the lever-handles.

To recapitulate, the described improvement consists in constructing clothes-lineclamps, commonly-termed clothes-pins," with a quadrangular rubber spring-block, in combination with contiguous planes at a suitable distance from the axis of two connected levers, said planes being parallel with each other, and with the sides of the spring-block in a transverse direction, and parallel or nearlyso in a longitudinal direction, and also in forming the jaws with a graduatedrecess, diminishing from the ordinary diameter of a large-sized clothes-line to that of the smallest cord that .can be advantageously employed, said recess terminating at the smaller extremity with abrupt shoulders, to enable clothing to be held upon a small line without pulling ofl','or by the shoulders alone, and also to prevent the cord from slipping from thejaws of the clamp.

I do not claim aband or link surrounding the two parts of the clamp, nor do claim these parts when formed with notches, sockets, or a recessed seat for the rubber spring, such construction, however necessary or useful in otherelamps, not being applicable to the principle of construction on which my invention is based, and consequently positively injurious if combined therewith.

What I claim as my invention, isi In a clothes-line clamp formed of two jointed. levers, provided with parallel or nearly parallel contiguous bearing-planes, the quadrangular self-retaining rubber spring-block, arranged and operating substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

I also claim ina clothes-line clamp formed of two jointed levers A A, the abruptly-terminating jaw-recesses a a arranged and operating substantially in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

The above specification of my invention signed by me, thisfourteenth day of April, 1868.

JOHN G. ROTH.

Witnesses:

ALEX. F. ROBERTS, JAMES T. GRAHAM. 

